Government-run design contest yields logo to promote Taiwan

This article was written by June Tsai and published by the Taiwan Journal on April 14, 2006. It reports that the results of a government-run design contest were recently announced, with the winning logo featuring a stylistic representation of Taiwan's highest mountain and a sacred site for the nation's Bunun aboriginal tribe.

The nationwide design was organized by the Government Information Office. The government hopes to use the logo in an overseas publicity campaign that is designed to promote Taiwan. The campaign, called "Show Taiwan to the World", is intended to raise the international community's awareness of Taiwan.

The designer of the winning logo is a student from the National Taiwan Normal University who majors in traditional Chinese art. He used traditional Chinese brush and ink to create the logo. Judges of the design contest considered the design as a winning combination of the natural and cultural aspects of Taiwan with pictorial calligraphy. It expresses a cultural feeling that needs to be preserved in the nation's rapidly changing society. It also stands out from the kind of digital aesthetic that is so popular in Taiwan in recent years.

Taiwan's highest mountain is Yushan, or Jade Mountain. In the logo, the shape of the mountain resembles the Chinese character of a human. This indicates that humanity is the point of return and departure of thinking for all the people of Taiwan.

In the first phase of the design contest, a web site was launched to invite Taiwanese internet users to vote on 24 different pictures and pick the one that best symbolizes the nation. Five images were chosen in the end, which are those of glove puppets, Yushan, the Taipei 101 building, Taiwanese food, and the endangered Formosan landlocked salmon.

In the second phase of the design contest, designers from all over Taiwan were invited to create a logo that is based on one of the five chosen images. More than 1,400 entries were received, whose designers ranged between the ages of 14 and 52. Nearly one third of them chose the Taipei 101 building as their theme. Another 350 designers chose the Formosan landlocked salmon. While a final prize-winner was chosen from all of these entries, the judges also selected three winners from each of the five categories.